Process of producing solid igniting bodies for automatic gas-igniters.



UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

EUGEN NOWAK, OF BERLIN, GERMANY.

PROCESS OF PRODUCING SOLID IGNITING BODIES FOR AUTOMATIC GAS-IGNITERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 663,820, dated December1 1, 1900.

Application filed May 19, 1900 Serial No. 17,294. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGEN NOWAK, engineer'chemist, a subject of theEmperor of Austria-Hungary, and a resident of Prinzenstrasse 89, in thecity of Berlin, German Empire, have invented a certain new and usefulImproved Process for the Production of Solid Igniting Bodies forAutomatic Gas-Igniters, of which the following is an exact, full, andclear description.

This invention relates to a process for the production of solid ignitingbodies or so-called igniters, which are provided on gas-burners incombination with fine igniting-wires, touched by the issuing gas, madeincandescent, and thereby automatically ignite the gas. The activeelement of these igniters is, as is known, spongy platinum or blackplatinum, which in consequence of the loose fine molecular distributionof the platinum possesses the property of condensing gases on thesurface, and thereby igniting the same. If, however, platinum iscontinuously exposed to high temperatures, it sinters or slags together,loses its line distribution, and no longer ignites. Attempts havetherefore been made to obviate this disadvantage by usingfire-resisting, porous, and indifferent materialssuch as meerschaum,clay, &c.as carriers for the platinum. Several processes are known forproducing such igniters; but none of these igniters were lasting andreliable in their effect. With a previous process I have, however,obtained very good results. The fire-resisting raw material-such asmeerschaum, clay, (ice-serving as carrier for the platinum was firsttreated with suitable solvents-such as acids, water, alcohol, andetherin order to free the same from impure admixtures and make it moreporous, whereupon the same was impregnated with platinum salts. By thesame method I attain still better results if the carrier materialtreated with solvents is impregnated with other salts in addition toplatinum salts, as follows from the following description.

I take a fire-resisting sulmtance-such as clay, infusorial earth,meerschaum, &c.di-

. then wash the material with hot water until it indicates no more acid.By this treatment the existing alkaline earths, ferruginous andargillaceous earth, and a part of the silicates dissolve. NowI digestthe material with absolutealcohol and then again with sulfuric ether inorder to remove any organic substances such as fats, oils, andresins-which may be present, after which the material is placed in aplatinum vessel, in which it is slowly heated to red heat. The materialobtained in this manner is of quite a different chemical composition andmolecular structure to thatoriginallyemployed. Itis distinguished by anextraordinarily high degree of porousness, is free from all organicadmixtures, as also from the silicates decomposable by acids and fromother soluble compounds, and therefore consists exclusively ofcompletely-durable silicates.

The natural pure silicate skeleton is impregnated with a solution ofplatinum salts and thorium salts, to which cerium is added, until it isevaporated almost to dryness,thereupon completely dried in cacao, andreduced in any known manner. The ignit-er is thereby finished withoutfurther handling.

Instead of platinum salts other metal salts can be used which yield astrong ignitingplatinum, and instead of thorium salts other soluble anddecomposable metal salts can be employed which after being reduced leavea fire-resisting residue behind, such as the rare earths. The singlesalts can without prej udicing the action be used for the impregnationsimultaneously in mixture or also successively.

If, for instance, meerschauml is used as ground material for theproduction of such igniters, the same is reduced by the chemicaltreatment to one-half of its original weight, and thus one-half the masswith the same volume is obtained, thereby doubling the porousness. Thepure silicate skeleton so obtained from the meerscha um mass impregnatedwith the salts of the rare earths, which after the reduction leave aspongy highly-porous oxid behind, forms for the platinum salts to beimpregnated an extraordinary fire-resistin g base of a high degree ofsuction or absorbability, which enables a considerably larger quantityof platinum salts to be stored up in the igniter than is possible withthe natural meerschaum. The active surface of the platinum formed onthis base is thereby considerably increased andialso' the moleculardistribution of the same, and the igniter itself is, with regard to theatmospheric influences, unsusceptible, since it of course only consistsof the indifferent durable silicates of the original meerschaum, theoxid s'of' the rare earths, and the platinum metal. Thus according tothis process afire-resisting, rapid andcon tinuously acting,Weather-resisting igniting body is obtained, which complies with thehighest requirements of an igniter.

. Having now particularlydescribed the said invention, what I claim, andwish tosecure by Letters Patent, is

The herein-described process forproducing solid igniting bodiesconsisting in. the follow-- hand in presence of two witnesses. v

EUGEN NOWAK.

Witnesses WOLDEMAR HAUPT, HENRY HASPER.

